Two things shape sciatica in this metro. One is the driving — an hour each way on the Loop 101 or I-17 puts the lumbar spine in the one position it likes least. The other is the summer, when outdoor activity stops for three months and the trunk strength that was holding a marginal back together quietly disappears.
The result is a nerve root that was coping and then is not. Pain travels from the low back into the buttock and down the leg, and the leg is only the messenger.
Sciatica is a description, not a diagnosis. The appointment exists to find out which root is irritated and what it is doing.
Strength at the ankle and the big toe, reflexes, sensation across the foot, and straight-leg raise give that answer. A foot that catches or a calf that fails on stairs is weakness, and weakness changes what happens next. Pain on its own does not.
Everything sits in one building on one chart. The valley clinics run this: Deer Valley at 20414 N 27th Avenue and North Phoenix at 2222 W Dunlap Avenue on the I-17 corridor, Peoria on Thunderbird Road, Glendale at 6622 N 91st Avenue by Westgate, and Mesa and Chandler on the east side.
When the conservative course has not been enough, the interventional step is an epidural steroid injection placed around the irritated root. In this metro it is done in office at Mesa or at Westgate, and both have fluoroscopy on site.
Having a procedure clinic on each side is a deliberate answer to the size of the valley. Nobody in the West Valley should be driving to Mesa for an injection, and nobody in the East Valley should be crossing to Glendale. You go to whichever is on your side of the Loop 101.
It is an outpatient appointment. The physician who examined you places the injection and follows you afterwards.
Most major commercial plans are accepted, and most Medicare Advantage plans are in network in Arizona. AHCCCS is accepted for Pain Management only. Benefits are verified before the first visit.
If the sciatica began in a car accident, care is billed to the med-pay portion of the auto policy, to a lien where an attorney is involved, or to a health plan. No referral is needed at any valley clinic and appointments are usually available within the same week.
There is a general page on sciatica, and service pages for Pain Management in Phoenix and Chiropractic care in Phoenix.
Other Phoenix pages by complaint: herniated disc treatment in Phoenix, low back pain treatment in Phoenix, neck pain treatment in Phoenix, knee pain treatment in Phoenix and neuropathy treatment in Phoenix. And by procedure: epidural steroid injection in Phoenix, radiofrequency ablation in Phoenix, spinal cord stimulator trials in Phoenix, kyphoplasty in Phoenix and nerve block in Phoenix.
Every clinic below has Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management on one chart, so care can move between them without a new referral.
Downtown out through the north, west, south and east suburbs.
Academy, InterQuest and Tenderfoot cover the north, central and south of the city.
Harmony in Fort Collins and our Greeley clinic serve Larimer and Weld counties.
Across the Valley, from the West Valley through Phoenix to the East Valley.
Yes, at any valley clinic — Deer Valley, North Phoenix, Peoria, Glendale at Westgate, Mesa and Chandler. Appointments are usually available within the same week.
Because the valley is wide. Mesa serves the East Valley and Westgate serves the West Valley, and both have fluoroscopy on site, so nobody crosses the metro for an injection.
An examination. Strength at the ankle and big toe, reflexes, sensation across the foot and straight-leg raise, to establish which nerve root is involved and whether it is weak.
Not directly, but the summer stop in activity often does. Trunk strength drops over three indoor months and a back that was coping stops coping.
AHCCCS is accepted for Pain Management only. Most major commercial plans are accepted and most Medicare Advantage plans are in network in Arizona.
When a reasonable conservative course has not shifted the leg pain, or when the examination finds weakness rather than pain alone.
Not for most people at the start. It is ordered when there is weakness, when symptoms are not improving, or when a procedure needs the level confirmed.
The leg symptoms usually quiet before the back stiffness does. How long depends on how long it has been going and what is driving it, and progress is tracked at each visit.
Mountain View Pain Center treats sciatica across the Phoenix metro, with Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic and Acupuncture in the same clinic and on the same chart. No referral is needed and appointments are usually available within the same week.
